'Defy commanders' - NCA urges troops

'Defy commanders' - NCA urges troops

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ZIMBABWE'S security forces have been urged to defy commanders who have vowed to torpedo a change of government in general elections on Saturday.

"You have heard your commanders declare that they would not support and salute anyone other than the current president," the National Constitutional Assembly (NCA), a coalition of rights groups campaigning for a new Constitution for Zimbabwe, said in a statement.

"But it is this president and his elite that have made the lives of you, your families and all of us a daily misery.

"Go against the orders of your commanders, lay down your arms and rally behind the people of Zimbabwe to foster reconstruction and development.

"It is not too late to refuse to be used as pawns by those who hold no allegiance to you and your families and whose only interest is in their own personal greed and ambition."

Police Commissioner Augustine Chihuri last week said his force would not allow "a puppet" to rule the country. Army Commander General Constantine Chiwenga said the army would not "support anyone other than President Mugabe who has sacrificed a lot for the country."

The head of prison services, retired major-general Paradzai Zimondi, also vowed last month not to accept anyone other than Mugabe as head of state, as he instructed prison staff to vote for the veteran leader, who has been in office since the nation's independence from Britain in 1980.

Ominously, Mugabe on Sunday said voters who voted for the opposition were wasting their time.

"There is no way we can allow them to rule this country," Mugabe said of the opposition MDC whose leader, Morgan Tsvangirai is one of four candidates running for president.

Mugabe, 84, is seeking a sixth term at the helm of the country, has often referred to his challengers as puppets of the West.

In the run-up to 2002 presidential elections, widely condemned as rigged, Zimbabwe's defence chiefs declared they would not support a president who did not participate in the war of liberation in the 1970s, as Mugabe did.

The opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) on Friday deplored new electoral regulations passed this week by Mugabe which allow police officers into polling stations during the elections.

The regulations allow police officers in polling stations to assist illiterate or physically challenged voters.

Zimbabwean police have often used brutal force against Mugabe's opponents and the police boss recently warned that his force could use firearms if necessary to crush protests after the polls. - AFP/Staff Reporter
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